The present invention pertains to covers for vehicles such as automobiles and sport utility vehicles, and, in particular, to a cover for use during vehicle transport which overlays finished surfaces of the vehicle to provide protection from damage.
One problem faced by the vehicle manufacturing industry is that during transport or shipment between different locations, new vehicles are typically subjected to a variety of conditions that can damage the finish of the vehicles. For example, new paint on a vehicle often continues to cure after the vehicle leaves the factory and should do so in a clean and protected environment to avoid blemishes from occurring during the curing process. However, such an environment is absent during transport, as a variety of environmental pollutants that can harm the painted surface and to which the vehicle may be exposed include industrial fallout, acid rain, smoke, soot, oil, bird droppings, sand, tar, ultraviolet sunlight degradation, salty ocean spray and swarf. Still further, abrasive objects, including such things as watches of handlers of the vehicles, that are inadvertently brushed against the painted exterior can also cause unsightly scratches. All of these damages can lead to a vehicle with a marred appearance reaching the customer, as well as possibly undesirable and costly repairs.
While the need to protect the finish during transport is receiving attention in the industry, one reality that needs to be factored into possible solutions to this transport problem is that the transport process may require many entries into and exits from the vehicle being moved. For example, a transport schedule involving exports may include the vehicle being driven in sequence from the assembly line to a holding lot, from the holding lot to a transport carrier, from the transport carrier to a dock, from the dock to a ship transport, from the ship to a carrier transport, and so on until the vehicle ultimately reaches the retail destination.
Manufacturers have attempted to solve this transport problem and thereby provide finish protection since at least as early as 1918, when padded hardware stick frames were attached to vehicles and covered with cloth. Numerous other vehicle coatings have been tried over subsequent years, but have met with only limited success. For example, one recent attempted solution involved styrofoam strips being fastened to the doors of new automobiles, which strips were intended to prevent accidental bumping and marring from occurring during transport handling. In another attempted solution, a plastic sheeting film was applied to the hood and various portions of the side panels of trucks. Unfortunately, these styrofoam strips and plastic sheeting film only covered strategic points along the vehicle exterior, and consequently many other body panel surfaces were left unprotected from the adverse effects of environmental pollutants. Still further, the plastic sheeting film may be expensive to procure, and further its application and removal may be costly in terms of labor costs.
Another recent attempt to provide painted surface protection during transport resulted in a larger, more full-body cover that overlays the vehicle. This existing cover, which is made from a moisture-resistant fabric, has a top part that covers the vehicle roof and side portions and front and back portions that hang down to basically cover the sides, front and back of the vehicle, respectively. Headlight and taillight covering openings in the cover are covered by correspondingly shaped clear plastic sheets that are attached via adhesive along their perimeters to the cover. While some vehicle finish protection is achieved, unfortunately this prior art cover suffers from numerous shortcomings.
For instance, the means of attachment to the vehicle are complicated and time consuming to implement. While the rear bumper covering region of this cover is provided with elastic, the more reliable aspect of cover attachment is achieved with long straps that extend from one side covering portion to traverse the undercarriage of the vehicle, and engage plastic buckles along the other side covering portion to be manually pulled tight. Cross-straps with buckles that hold onto the windshield wiper blades are also furnished. In addition, and to cooperate with strips of Velcro fasteners sewn or adhered along the bottom edge of the cover, strips of adhesive-backed Velcro fasteners must be adhered to the underside of the running board/rocker panel at the vehicle sides. Similarly, rectangular pieces of Velcro fasteners sewn or adhered along the bottom edge of the cover cooperate with rectangles of adhesive-backed Velcro fasteners that during installation are adhered to the wheel wells. Due to the type and number of fasteners employed, not only is cover mounting time consuming, but in many applications the cover achieves a relatively loose fitting with many gaps through which undesirable pollutants can enter under the cover and contact the vehicle painted surfaces.
Another shortcoming of this prior art cover is related to the access panel it provides to allow a person to enter the driver's seat while the vehicle is covered. Along the edge of the access panel which extends vertically along the door rear edge and forward and downward along the door top edge, a one-inch wide Velcro strip is adhesively attached during manufacture. During cover installation, this Velcro strip on the access panel is meshable with a two-inch wide mating Velcro strip adhered to a cover portion overlapped by the edge of the door access panel to "close" the panel over the vehicle door. Unfortunately, properly matching approximately seven feet of paired Velcro to ensure a gapless connection that bars contaminant entry may be difficult to do consistently. Furthermore, when the vehicle front door is pulled open, on occasion the narrow strip of Velcro on the access panel comes unglued, forcing the operator to stop to first reattach the unglued strip and then match them again correctly. The inconsistent results of this door panel closure can allow leakage of moisture and contaminants underneath the cover, and the tedious fastening job is time-consuming and therefore expensive in terms of personal costs.
Still another shortcoming of this prior art cover is that it greatly limits the visibility of a person driving a covered vehicle during transport. The outside mirrors are completely covered with tubes or sock-like cylinders, open at the ends, arranged over cover apertures though which the mirror extends during cover installation. In addition to the fact that these open ends permit contaminants to reach the vehicle body, because the outside mirrors are obscured by these tubes the driver cannot use them to view hazards that exist behind or along the vehicle's sides when backing up is being considered. Furthermore, the prior art cover overlays some of the vehicle windows to preclude meaningful visibility therethrough. Specifically, while the prior art cover includes openings overlaying the windows of the front, rear and right sides of the vehicle for visibility purposes, the cover over the driver's door window is typically provided with only an approximately five-inch diameter circular peephole, and the other windows on the driver's side are covered, thereby resulting in large blind spots existing to the left of the vehicle. Another disadvantage related to these window openings is that in order to reduce contaminant entry under the cover, the cover edges that define these window openings are taped down to the windows with clear tape to seal the window cutouts. However, this taping process is tedious, as well as costly due to the expense of the tape and the labor costs associated with taping. Moreover, when the prior art cover is removed from the vehicle, the tape tends to shred the fabric which may render the cover nonreuseable.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a vehicle cover which overcomes these and other shortcomings of the prior art.